News, insights and updates from the Adobe Primetime team on TV delivery and monetization across IP‐connected screens

Posts tagged "Android"

Adobe Primetime always ensures the greatest reach and coverage across all devices so that operators and programmers can reach the largest audiences with television and premium movie content. The latest Adobe Primetime 1.4 TVSDK supports superior playback quality and performance on devices running on the latest Android and iOS operating systems, Android L and iOS 8.

Integrate Nielsen data to measure audiences on iOS and Android:

As you may have heard, Adobe has struck a strategic alliance with Nielsen that will provide broadcasters, cable networks and MVPDs with comparable metrics in Adobe Analytics to measure audiences accurately across IP-connected screens, including desktops, smartphones, tablets, game consoles, and over-the-top (OTT) devices. As part of the initial phases of this effort, the Nielsen SDK is now available within Adobe Primetime TVSDK for iOS and Android.

Dynamically insert ads for a targeted ad experience once the C3 window has expired:

With Adobe Primetime’s latest TVSDK, new ads can be dynamically inserted to replace linear ads already baked into a C3/C7 VOD asset. This reduces the time to deliver engaging and relevant ads online that can be effectively monetized.

Air alternative content during blackouts for seamless viewing experience:

Adobe Primetime continues to build a robust offering to support regional blackouts. Adobe Primetime’s TVSDK now allows viewers to watch alternative programming if there is content that is blacked out in that region for that particular time frame. Once the blackout has ended, the viewer will return to original scheduled programming to ensure no disruption to their viewing experience.

Optimized ABR for reduced buffering on Desktop and Android:

Adobe Primetime has optimized ABR logic within the latest TVSDK to reduce buffering and disruption while viewing content. If a viewer is experiencing buffering during a particular variant of ABR, Adobe Primetime’s TVSDK will no longer ramp back up to that variant during that playback session in order to sustain viewer engagement.

Stay tuned for Adobe Primetime’s deployment across even more devices in the New Year to ensure that we reach the broadest audience, whenever and wherever they want to consume content.

For those of us working to develop MPEG-DASH, Apple’s recent support of the W3C’s Media Source Extensions (MSE) API in Safari on OS X Yosemite is great news. MSE and DASH have a complementary relationship, and expanded support for MSE will make it much easier for publishers to adopt DASH.

While MSE itself is designed to be media container format neutral, one of the primary container format recommendations made in the specification is compatible with the ISO Base Media File Format (ISO BMFF) “fragmented MP4” profile of MPEG-DASH. At this time, MSE implementations in most desktop browsers (Chrome, IE, Safari) are available and support the ISO BMFF container. Firefox is also working on compatible implementations, which are already partially available in their development branches.

The widespread support for the ISO BMFF container is mainly driven by the influence of Netflix’s content library, which is built around an ISO BMFF container. Although browser vendors may or may not feel that ISO BMFF MPEG-DASH is the best way to deliver content, the requirement to support DASH in order to receive content from a major content provider will ensure continued support for this container.

Creating a broad footprint of available clients is one of the main things slowing down adoption of DASH. We here at Adobe announced our support for DASH in our Adobe Primetime video stack and demonstrated it at this year’s NAB Show. Primetime will support DASH using an ISO BMFF container, and it will work everywhere our video engine runs, including Flash in the browser, Android, Roku, RDK-based set-top boxes, and many other platforms. Primetime’s DASH implementation will also include complete support for all of the capabilities that we offer in HLS today, including DRM and ad insertion, making it even easier for publishers to adopt DASH.

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Between increasing support for DASH using MSE in desktop browsers, and support for DASH on many other platforms using Primetime, we are nearing a point where it is easy to deploy video players to consume DASH content. With the availability of client endpoints, it will make more sense for publishers to adopt DASH for their delivery workflows. This won’t happen overnight, but clearing this significant hurdle positions the digital video ecosystem to truly embrace MPEG-DASH.

Adobe has a rich legacy of leading the delivery of Internet video (IP video), with Adobe Flash Player powering the vast majority of desktop video experiences. Today, Adobe Primetime’s IP video leadership powers numerous live and on-demand video experiences across iOS and Android devices, such as NBC Sports Live Extra and Comcast’s XFINITY TV Go apps. However, what is less known is that Adobe Primetime technology is pre-integrated with the next generation set top boxes including the Comcast X1 Platform based on the Reference Design Kit (RDK).

Comcast has integrated Adobe Primetime inside of its shipping set top box implementation of the RDK Media Framework and actively uses Adobe capabilities for full-featured TV experiences delivered over the Internet. Adobe provides critical capabilities that enhance the viewing experience including:

DRM and content protection

Live and Video On Demand playback

Offline playback

HD video playback

Adaptive bitrate

Trick play

DVR

Alternate audio

Closed captioning

Support for SCTE-style digital program insertion (DPI) signaling

Dynamic ad insertion with blackout signaling

Adobe is proud of the contributions we’ve made to IP video delivery over the past 12 years and watching the incredible experiences that our customers offer to push the industry forward. Adobe’s support for the next generation set top boxes and the evolution of video delivery innovation is changing how we engage with video in and beyond the living room.

Video operators considering using the RDK can easily leverage the core features of Adobe Primetime as part of their RDK implementation. To learn more about RDK, visit the website. To learn more about Adobe Primetime, visit our website. If you would like to experience Adobe Primetime in action, check out The X1 Platform by XFINITY from Comcast.

Speaking with a broad range of the largest television programmers and MSOs recently at IBC and dmexco, it’s clear that consumers across the UK and continental Europe are hungry to watch television and film across devices.

We’re excited to announce that M6 Group, a leading French television broadcaster and member of RTL Group, has selected Adobe Primetime to support its Android-based applications for smartphones and tablet devices. iOS support powered by Adobe Primetime is expected to be available later this year, along with other platforms in the future. With Adobe Primetime, M6 Group can easily and securely deliver simulcast, live and on-demand TV content from its top networks to its customers via mobile apps across devices. We are thrilled to work with M6 Group as our first major TV programmer in France bringing its leading TV brands to audiences across mobile platforms.

(From left to right, M6, W9 and 6ter screenshots from M6 Group’s Android applications, now available for download. Images courtesy of Google Play.)

M6 Group, which serves nearly a quarter of the broadcast audience in France, has incorporated some of Adobe Primetime’s components across three of its properties: M6, France’s second most popular channel for viewers under 50; W9, a channel with content for young adults; and 6ter, a channel featuring broad content for the whole family. M6 Group is implementing various Adobe Primetime capabilities, including the Adobe Primetime Player and DRM to provide the best viewing experience of protected premium content. Consumers in France running devices with Android version 2.3.3 and higher can download these applications today to watch content live and on-demand. Future deployments of Adobe Primetime for M6 Group’s iOS applications are expected later this year along with added integration of Adobe Primetime’s ad insertion component.

[UPDATED, 9/25/13] Check out the video testimonial on Adobe Primetime from M6 Group below and stay tuned for more Adobe Primetime updates coming soon!

For passionate tennis fans, the U.S. Open has been top of mind for the past two weeks. The annual event culminated with Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams taking the Men’s and Women’s titles, respectively. With all the competitive matches leading up to the crown, tennis fans have been tuning into the Open – and not just on TV. Tennis Channel, which has telecast rights to the U.S. Open, has also been streaming the event online and across Android and iOS devices – powered by Adobe Primetime.

Established in 2003, Tennis Channel is the only 24-hour, TV-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle. A hybrid of comprehensive sports, health, fitness, pop culture, entertainment, lifestyle and travel programming, the network houses every aspect of the wide-ranging, worldwide tennis community. It also has the most concentrated single-sport coverage in television, and is carried by nine of the top 10 MSOs, Verizon FiOS TV, and has a national footprint via DIRECTV and DISH Network.

This summer, Tennis Channel decided to live stream the U.S. Open across desktops, iOS and Android devices to deliver a true TV experience for tennis fans on any screen. To make this possible, Tennis Channel selected Adobe Primetime and the Level 3 Video Cloud to broadcast the U.S. Open live via “Tennis Channel Everywhere” apps. Adobe Primetime enabled Tennis Channel to deploy apps for Linear Simulcast quickly and efficiently – using unified, multiscreen publishing, authentication (DRM), ad insertion, and analytics. The Level 3 Video Cloud provided the acquisition, encoding, packaging, and CDN delivery of content. By leveraging Adobe Primetime, Tennis Channel can reach more tennis fans, extend its brand, and reduce operational overhead by leveraging existing broadcast workflows.

It’s been great working with the Tennis Channel and Level 3. From the London 2012 Olympic Games to the 2013 U.S. Open Tennis Championships, Adobe Primetime continues to deliver broad availability of TV content across screens, synchronized viewing experiences across devices and TV, and greater revenue for TV programmers and operators. Stay tuned for more news and updates around Adobe Primetime coming soon.

As announced last fall, although Flash Player for the Android mobile browser will not receive any further version updates, it remained available in the Google Play Store. This week we announced Flash Player for the mobile browser will be unpublished from the Google Play Store.

Does this mean Adobe is not committed to video on mobile devices? Absolutely not. We continue to innovate and solve mobile video fragmentation challenges. Specifically, on Android, we solve this with Adobe AIR, with high-end video features such as Adobe Access DRM, and frequent new releases with new video features. In addition, we introduced “Project Primetime”, focusing on solving video fragmentation and monetization challenges across desktop, mobile and digital home.

We made the decision to discontinue support for Android mobile browser because of two reasons: 1) Premium experiences on mobile devices are typically being delivered through apps and 2) Mobile websites mostly rely on HTML5 based video delivery.

What does the mean for you if you use Flash Player on Android for mobile browser video delivery? First, existing users can continue use as is. Android market unpublish does not mean Flash Player will be uninstalled from devices. Devices with Flash Player already installed will continue to receive security updates. Second, you should develop a migration plan. New users will not be able to download Flash Player and install to their mobile browser.

Adobe’s solution for video delivery to mobile devices is centered on enabling apps. As an immediate future-proof migration path, Adobe AIR provides the same advanced Flash based video features, which means no changes to your content protection or video delivery infrastructure. AIR enables advanced video features for playback on Android 2.2+ devices, including Adobe Access DRM, live support, and adaptive streaming. Adobe is fully committed to further develop and support Adobe AIR on Android. Adobe AIR does not rely on the in-browser Flash Player and is not impacted by the unpublish change. Popular AIR video application examples include WatchESPN, iTV, and Snagfilms.